These are the new measures that will be implemented to combat vehicle theft on highways
The Public Works Ministry, Crime Prevention Undersecretary and highway concession holders have announced a million-dollar investment and the permanent presence of Carabineros (uniformed police) in highway control centers.
More than a billion Chilean pesos (US$1.1 million) have been committed to security by highway concession holders, Carabineros will be permanently present in control centers and their deployment in the field will be strengthened, and 800 cameras will be made available. These measures are part of the plan presented by the Public Works Ministry and the Crime Prevention Undersecretary to directly combat vehicle theft on highways.
The plan is the result of a public-private working group to face the problem of road safety, in which highway concession holders, the Policía de Investigaciones (Investigative Police Service, PDI), Carabineros and the Public Prosecutor’s Office also participated.
Regarding the situation, Public Works Minister Juan Carlos García stated “we have a common problem, which is the safety of our families. That is why we have been brought together by the Crime Prevention Undersecretary to work alongside each other, because this type of problem cannot be worked on separately; we have to work on it together, alongside different state agencies, as well as the private sector.”
Minister García highlighted the permanent presence of Carabineros in highway control centers, and the availability of more than “800 security cameras, which allow us to address road safety problems, and also potential crimes that are committed on the roads.”
He added, “highway concession holders have committed to investing a billion Chilean pesos in security, resources that will be invested in coordination with the Crime Prevention Undersecretary and a team that will be working permanently to monitor the measures that we are adopting.”
It is worth mentioning that this technical team, with representatives from each institution, will weekly evaluate the measures taken and new actions to be implemented.
Crime Prevention Undersecretary Eduardo Vergara stated, “since we started our work as a task force, alongside our Public Works Minister, we have already made some progress. For example, the strengthening and deployment of air-ground strategies in the hands of Carabineros de Chile, adding new patrols and focusing work not only on the most critical points, but also at the most critical times. With our Policía de Investigaciones carrying out the second component of the strategy that we promised, putting police investigation at the service of disrupting the organized gangs that feed off these crimes.”
Undersecretary Vergara explained, “we are absolutely clear that the responsibility to protect falls on the State, but at the same time the tasks must be shared. We also need those who run the highway concessions to make progress on better preventative measures.”
The president of COPSA, Leonardo Daneril; general manager of Grupo Costanera, Diego Savino; and director general of Vías Chile, Andrés Barberis, participated in the meeting as representatives of the highway concession holders.